Lokve

The village of Lokve is situated in a valley surrounded by a forestat an altitude of 965 meters in the northwest of the Trnovo Plateau. It is only 20 km away from Nova Gorica and it can be reached from Ajdovščina, Idrija, Čepovan and Most na Soči as well. In the northern part of the village a hill called Veliki vrh (Great peak) or Škol (1190 m) is closing the view towards the Čepovan valley, in the east there are Mali Češevik (1104 m) and Ilovica (1166 m), and in the south of Lokve there is Prezren (1128 m), in the south-west lies the Trogar hill and in the north-west Črni vrh (Black peak) (1066 m) and Koprivnica. In the heart of the valley there is a hillock where already in the 18th century a small chapel was built and where nowadays a church dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua stands. Lokve and its surroundings are situated in an entirely karstic region. Thus, there are no water sources at all. However, in the past there were many pools, the so-called kal or lokev, which were formed on the argillaceous earth. The first inhabitants – herdsmen – used those pools for the watering of their animals. Only two natural pools are still existing; one of them is Goveji kal (Beef pond) in the north-eastern part of Lokve. In the past the inhabitants of Lokve and its surroundings worked in the field of forestry, charcoal burning, the producing of wooden tubs and glaziery (there are still some remains of glažuta in Mojska draga).
The area in the pith of the Trnovo Forest is fairy-tale like the whole year round. Spring light greeen tunnels of trees cover cycle tracks and footpaths. The shadows of huge treetops offer peaceful refuge from the summer heat. Mountain tracks invite to the near summits (Poldanovec – 1303 m, Mrzovec – 1406 m, Golaki – 1495) also those visitors who demand steeper ascents. Autumn fiery colours invite us to take a walk and to prepare for the white winter idyll when again we can decide to go on the longer or shorter routes for cross-country skiing in the calm forest. However, the fairy-tale is not over yet. The village of Lokve offers pleasures of the mini-golf, tennis, volleyball and seven-a-side enthusiasts as well as those who want to take a walk around the village on the path, which was once used by foresters that supervised the forest surface (Path behind the wall). Nature enthusiasts will probably be attracted more by an interesting glade at Mala lazna which can be a starting-point for hikers, cyclists and cross-country skiers or the natural botanical and forest reserve, called Paradana, and its famous Velika ledena jama (Great ice cave, 385 meters deep) which was once known as a golden cave for ice that was exported even to Egypt. All the visitors will be without any doubt tempted by the exquisite homemade food (bread, venison,…) and the night's lodging in Loke and Lazna.